Tag Archives: universal music group

Over the past decade, several Music Row labels, studios and related businesses have relocated to other areas of Nashville or to surrounding communities, causing a noticeable change in the area’s look and feel. Click to see a slideshow on Music Row.(photo: John Partipilo / The Tennessean)

The house at the corner of 16th Avenue South and Tremont Street has served Mary Hilliard Harrington well for six years. From that post in the Music Row neighborhood, she has watched as her company, The Green Room PR, a music industry-focused public relations firm, has tripled in size and come to count Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean and Dierks Bentley as clients.

But the little house has become restrictive as The Green Room has grown. So Harrington is trading in the quaint office space next month for a contrasting view of exposed brick, high ceilings and an open floor plan.

The move means giving up the firm’s address in a neighborhood long favored by the music industry for a mailbox in the emerging SoBro neighborhood. Fifteen years ago, such a decision would have seemed to fly in the face of logic. Today, though, Harrington is on trend. Continue reading →

BRUSSELS — Universal Music Group won approval Friday from American and European regulators to buy the famed British music company EMI, including the Beatles catalog. But the EU imposed stringent restrictions on the deal, forcing Universal to sell some of EMI’s biggest acts, such as Coldplay and Pink Floyd.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said the Universal and EMI businesses were different enough from each other that the deal wasn’t anti-competitive.

The FTC’s decision was the last hurdle that Universal, which already represents Jay-Z, Nirvana and U2, had to clear before it can go ahead with its $1.9 billion purchase of EMI’s recorded-music division.

The deal is one part of the break-up of EMI. Regulators already have allowed a group led by Sony Corp. to buy EMI’s music publishing arm for $2.2 billion.

Universal’s rivals, such as Warner Music and small independent labels, have protested the deal, saying it could squeeze out other players.

If it goes through, the Universal deal would reduce the number of major record labels to three from four — Universal, Sony and Warner Music Group — a concern cited by European regulators.

Universal, a unit of Vivendi SA, welcomed the announcement, brushing off suggestions that it is being forced to sell so much of EMI that the deal might not make sense any more.

Among EMI assets that must go is Parlophone, home to British bands Coldplay and Pink Floyd, as well as Kylie Minogue and David Bowie. The Beatles, which are part of Parlophone, were exempted.

Vivendi shares rose 2.8 percent to close at 15.69 euros ($20.43) on Friday after the deal was announced.

— Sarah DiLorenzo
Associated Press

Business Writer Ryan Nakashima in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES — A group led by Sony Corp. said Friday it has purchased Britain’s EMI Music Publishing for $2.2 billion from Citigroup, creating the world’s largest music copyrights company with a catalog that includes hits from Motown, The Beatles, Jay-Z and Norah Jones.

Now all that remains of the storied British label group is its recorded music division, which Vivendi’s Universal Music Group has offered to buy for $1.9 billion. That deal is being looked at by European and U.S. regulators. If they approve some time later this year, the world’s major music companies will be reduced from four to three.

Recorded music companies have argued that they need to combine resources to survive in an industry crippled by piracy, as the legitimate digital distribution of music is still in its infancy around the globe.Continue reading →